Teaching the Heart of Wisdom and the Commentary on the Awakening Mind

Tokyo, Japan, 12 April 2015 - The weather was bright once more today and, being a Sunday morning, the streets were relatively empty as His Holiness the Dalai Lama drove across Tokyo to the Showa Joshi Women’s University. People waiting outside to enter the Memorial Hall that was the venue for the teachings were taken by surprise to see him arrive in a car. Many bowed and then waved.

His Holiness took his seat punctually at 9.30 before a capacity audience of 2100. They included 370 Koreans, 120 Mongolians and about 1000 Chinese, mostly from Taiwan with some from the mainland.

“Since most of us customarily recite the Heart of Wisdom Sutra, we’ll have recitations in your various languages,” he announced at the beginning. “Today, let’s have the Korean monks and tomorrow the Japanese.”
Starting with his customary introduction to Buddhism His Holiness said:

“In this 21st century all of us 7 billion human beings are the same in wanting happiness and not wanting to be miserable. This is true of us all, whether we are religious or not. Many of the problems we face we make for ourselves, because we are self-centred and tend to see things from a narrow, short-sighted point of view, which only increases our frustration.”

His Holiness the Dala Lama speaking during his teaching at Showa Joshi Women’s University's Memorial Hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 12, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
He said that although there is a stress on education in today’s world, it tends to focus on materialistic goals, preparing students for a materialistic way of life in a materialistic culture. Society all but ignores the mind’s contribution to being happy. We are inclined to anger and frustration because we are not at peace within. What we need is a grounding in inner values. All religious traditions emphasize love and compassion the idea of brotherhood and sisterhood and they take different philosophical approaches to that goal.

Religious traditions are either theistic, stressing a belief in a creator god, or non-theistic, and believing in causality instead. Among the non-theistic traditions, only Buddhism advocates the absence of an independent, intrinsically existent self, asserting that there is no self separate from the body and mind. He said that within Buddhism there is the Pali tradition and the Sanskrit tradition. Both teach about the three trainings in ethics, concentration and wisdom, but differ on how wisdom is defined.

The ‘Unravelling of Thought Sutra’ explains the three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. The first refers to the teachings recorded in the Pali tradition, while the second and third belong to the Sanskrit tradition. His Holiness clarified that during the first Turning of the Wheel, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths to do with suffering, its origin, its cessation and the path that are the foundation of his teaching. He went into some detail to explain their 16 characteristics, four characteristics of each truth. He focused particularly on understanding selflessness, the possibility of undermining ignorance and attaining a cessation of suffering. When an understanding of the 16 characteristics of the Four Noble Truths is applied in practice it gives rise to the 37 factors of enlightenment.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with a towel to protect him from the hot lights, reading from the text during his teaching in Tokyo, Japan on April 12, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
Coming back from lunch His Holiness explained that the Heart of Wisdom Sutra belongs to a collection of texts known as the Perfection of Wisdom teachings that in their most extensive form comprise the sutra of 100,000 lines in 12 volumes. In their briefest form they consist of one syllable, ‘ah’. The Heart of Wisdom is generally regarded as consisting of 25 lines. Their explicit meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom is emptiness of intrinsic existence and its implications for the truth of cessation.

“Nagarjuna describes the meaning of cessation as occurring when emptiness overcomes the destructive emotions.Khunu Lama Rinpoche on the other hand explained, and I prefer this, that the destructive emotions dissolve into emptiness. Whereas the Buddha expounded the meaning of emptiness during the second Turning of the Wheel, during the third, he introduced the clear light nature of the mind.”

His Holiness made clear that during his explanation of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha referred to cessation and liberation in relation to an understanding of the selflessness of persons. One of the key points in the Heart of Wisdom is where it says:

‘Avalokiteshvara ... beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.’

The key word also, which is absent from the Chinese translation, but is found in the Sanskrit original and its Tibetan translation, indicates the selflessness of phenomena in addition to the selflessness of persons. To say that persons and phenomena are empty of inherent existence is not to say they do not exist at all. The words in the sutra, ‘Form is empty’ refer to the ultimate reality of the object, while the words ‘emptiness is form’ refer to its conventional existence. This is reiterated by the statement: ‘Emptiness is not other than forms and forms are not other than emptiness.’

The reason for seeking an understanding of emptiness is, as Chandrakirti states in his ‘Entering into the Middle Way’, ‘All faults, shortcomings and disturbing emotions arise from the misconception of [an intrinsically existent] self.’ On the basis of such a misconception we grasp at the intrinsic existent of things and generate disturbing emotions towards them, which His Holiness quotes his friend, American psychiatrist, Aaron Beck as saying is 90% our own mental projection.

Some of the over 2100 people attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching at Showa Joshi Women’s University's Memorial Hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 12, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Jigmey
His Holiness quoted Nagarjuna saying that without understanding the selflessness of phenomena you can’t really understand the selflessness of persons. In conclusion he cited the Heart of Wisdom itself:

“All the Buddhas of the past, present and future have depended, do and will depend upon the perfection of wisdom. Thereby they became, are becoming and will become unsurpassably, perfectly and completely awakened Buddhas.’

Turning to Nagarjuna’s ‘Commentary on the Awakening Mind’, His Holiness gave a concise outline. In verses 4-9 the text refutes non-Buddhist points of view. Verses 10-24 repudiates the views of Buddhist lower schools of thought and verses 25-44 address the views of the Mind Only school. In verse 48 Nagarjuna shows that emptiness is the view that cuts off misconceptions at the root.

[48]
Therefore constantly meditate on emptiness:
The basis of all phenomena,
Tranquil and illusion-like,
Groundless and destroyer of cyclic existence.

From verse 63 there is an explanation of the Madhyamaka view, exemplified by verse 68:

[68]
The conventional is taught to be emptiness;
The emptiness itself is the conventional;
One does not occur without the other,
Just as [being] produced and impermanent.

From verse 72 the practice of generosity and the cultivation of the awakening mind of bodhichitta are described, showing how understanding of emptiness becomes a motive factor for developing bodhichitta. Then, from verses 76 - 85 is an account of how to develop the practice of exchanging self and others. At which point, His Holiness announced:

“That’s all for today. Good night. We’ll meet again tomorrow.

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Teaching Buddhism in the Morning, Secular Ethics in the Afternoon

Rotterdam, Holland, 11 May 2014 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s second day in Rotterdam began with rain beating against the windows. Before leaving for the Ahoy Stadium he gave three interviews: the first to Floris Harm van Luyn of NOS National News, who asked him about his meeting yesterday with the Dutch Foreign Minister.

Jacobine Geel who presents a talk show on religious matters was persistent in her questions about the relevance of temples and the traditional trappings of religion, and why His Holiness thinks people need to hear his message. He told her his listeners are all fellow human beings who want to be happy and that he regularly advises them, if they are interested, to think about what he says. If they find it useful, put it into effect; if they don’t, then forget it. Bettine Vriesekoop for Buddhist Broadcasting asked His Holiness about the renewal of interest in Buddhism in China. He told her that compared to Tibet, China is the senior student of Buddhism, that there is clear evidence of interest in Tibetan Buddhism among many Chinese in the context of a revived interest in Buddhism in general.
“Dharma Friends, spiritual brothers and sisters,” His Holiness responded, “I’m very happy to be here with you. Wherever I go I always talk about how all 7 billion human beings are the same. We all want to live a happy life. We need to remember that we all belong to one human family.”

He said there are two groups of religious traditions, those that have a concept of a creator, and those that like Buddhism do not. Buddhism also does not accept the existence of an independent self, a self apart from the body and mind. He mentioned that he likes, whenever possible to begin teachings with a recitation of the Mangala Sutta in Pali. Today, he invited members of a Zen group to recite the ‘Heart Sutra’ in Japanese.

The audience of over 11,000 people at the Ahoy Stadium listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
“The Buddhist approach to explaining reality is to use our intelligence to the full. Nagarjuna and other masters of Nalanda also employed reason. They followed the Buddha’s advice not to accept his teachings out of faith and devotion but to investigate and test them. During the three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, the Buddha taught according to the capacity of the disciples he was teaching. To some he spoke about the psycho-physical aggregates as a load carried by the self, as if they were separate.”

His Holiness said that as sentient beings we all want happiness not suffering, so we need to know how suffering and happiness come about. He quoted Nagarjuna’s saying that suffering is a result of nothing other than our own actions. The Buddha said, ‘Suffering must be known, the origin must be overcome, liberation must be achieved and the path must be cultivated.’ The Buddhist concept of dependent origination expresses the law of causality that results depend on their causes. But, a cause also depends on the existence of the result. A cause is a cause because there is a result. This does not mean that a cause comes from a result, but that without a result it is not a cause. His Holiness compared this to explanations of material things in Quantum Physics.

Madhyamakas say that things do not exist objectively; they only exist by way of designation. We experience suffering because of ignorance, because of the gap between appearance and reality. His Holiness related this to what the American psychiatrist Aaron Beck told him, that when we are angry about something the object of our anger seems entirely negative and yet 90% of that is our own mental projection. This also corresponds to Nagarjuna’s explanation.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during his teaching in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jeppe Schilder
“We have two goals,” His Holiness said, “higher rebirth and liberation. What binds us in cyclic existence is ignorance. Understanding selflessness is what leads us out of it. Virtue, the cause of higher rebirth, can be found in common with other spiritual traditions, but dependent origination is the king of reasonings that eliminates the ignorance that clings to intrinsic existence.”

He said that to attain enlightenment, we need an understanding of emptiness supported by the awakening mind of bodhichitta and the practice of the six perfections. To attain omniscience we need to overcome the obstacles to knowledge.

The three principal aspects of the path are renunciation or the determination to be free, bodhichitta or the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment and wisdom. To begin with we generate the determination to be free. Extending this aspiration to others is bodhichitta, but without understanding dependent origination, the determination to be free and bodhichitta will not be fulfilled. We need to realized that, existing in dependence on other factors, things do not exist the way they appear; they exist only as designations.

His Holiness said he would like to begin the afternoon session by taking questions from the audience. During the lunch break he gave an interview to respected journalist Floris van Straaten in which he talked about positive developments in China, including the attention paid to the needs of ordinary poor farmers and judicial reform in the recent 3rd plenum. He also mentioned Xi Jinping’s remark about Buddhists taking responsibility to revive Chinese culture, which he said was an unusual observation for a communist party leader to make. He said it is too early to say where it may lead, but he noted that Xi Jinping, like Hu Yaobang before him, seems to have adopted a more realistic approach.

Erica Terpstra and His Holiness the Dalai Lama enjoying a moment of laughter during his talk in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
Erica Terpstra, who His Holiness has known a long time, introduced the afternoon session. She said it was a real pleasure to be here in his presence. She recalled an occasion when His Holiness was asked who he thought of as his spiritual peer and thinking for a moment he replied: “Everyone in the world.” She asked the audience to welcome ‘Our Holiness’.

His Holiness began as he usually does by acknowledging that all human beings are the same, mentally, physically and emotionally. All want a happy life. He said:

“If we could appreciate that all human beings are brothers and sisters belonging to the same human family, there’d be no room for conflict, no division between ‘us’ and ‘them’. There’d be no violence, no cheating or exploitation. People involved in education should think seriously about how to introduce such values into education. We are social animals, like bees who, without religion, laws or police, work together for their own survival.”

Answering questions from the audience, he suggested that in introducing Buddhism to children, if they belonged to a Buddhist family the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha could be explained to them. If not, it might be easier to talk about the mind and emotions. Asked how he relaxes he replied - sleep, going on to say that when he has time he reads and generally what he reads are the works of the Nalanda masters. Someone else wanted to know how His Holiness deals with mosquitoes and he said, to laughter from the audience, that his relationship with them is not very good. He added that he wonders what size of brain is needed to develop appreciation, because he sometimes allows a mosquito to drink his blood, but it flies off without showing any appreciation.

Audience members lined up to ask His Holiness the Dalai Lama questions during his talk at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11, 2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
About euthanasia he said that like abortion it is generally better to avoid it, but that you would have to weigh the pros and cons of each case. Beginning his talk about secular ethics he said that all religious traditions teach about love, tolerance, forgiveness and self-discipline. However, in today’s world, in which at least 1 billion people have no interest in religion, there is a need for a system of ethics that has a universal appeal; a system of secular ethics beyond the limits of this or that religious tradition.

He said that the effects of climate change and the global economy extend beyond national boundaries. To deal with problems like corruption and the huge gap between rich and poor requires secular ethics. He mentioned that pilot projects are going on to design a curriculum to incorporate secular ethics into the education system. He does not expect to see the results of this work, but, if it is successful, those belonging to the 21st century generation may see a new way of thinking emerge that will result in this really becoming a century of peace.

His Holiness answered further questions from the audience, advising that peace of mind is the most important thing for those who are dying, and that what the Buddha taught is more important than works of art. He clarified that the teaching about there being no independent self does not mean there is no self at all, but that it is designated on the basis of the body and mind.

Regarding pro-Shugden demonstrators on the street outside, he said:

“They chant “Stop lying”, but I don’t know what they are referring to lying about. I have been very straightforward about this. “

A view of the stage at the Ahoy Stadium during His Holiness the Dalai Lama's talk  in Rotterdam, Holland on May 11,2014. Photo/Jurjen Donkers
Asked if it was true that he would be the last Dalai Lama he said that as early as 1969 he had made it clear that whether or not there would be another Dalai Lama would be up to the Tibetan people to decide.

Finally, to a question about climate change he pointed out that we have to be more alert. Whereas the sight of obvious violence makes us recoil, damage to the environment and climate change take place more stealthily. We are often not aware of it until it has already happened and it is difficult to restore.

The organizers thanked His Holiness profusely for coming to warm and extended applause from the audience and he left the stage. Tomorrow he will go to The Hague to meet parliamentarians and participate in a seminar on ‘The Heart of Education.

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Buddhism: A teaching of substance, not just forms

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A personal insight into a typical Malaysian Chinese who are Buddhist, how and what makes them to be what they are today

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia -- A Malaysian who is born into a Chinese family is most likely to follow the religion of his parents.  This does not necessary apply to all, but it is safe to say that to a certain extent  a large numbers of Chinese who live in Malaysia follows their parent’s faith. It is rather sad that when the baton is passed down there wasn’t really much knowledge being transferred except for traditional rituals.

<< A Malaysian Buddhist of Chinese ancestry praying at a Thai Temple (Wat)

Our parents and forefathers were born in the era of hardship. They were economic refugees facing difficulties due to China’s Culture Revolution and the battle with the Japanese army during the 2nd world war. They sought greener pasture by migrating to Nanyang (South East Asian countries). They came in big numbers and they have brought along with them their way of life, culture, food, language, beliefs and religion.

In time of such hardship, where much energy was spent rebuilding their lives, not much care were used to cultivate the teachings of their religion and culture.

Recently I heard this from a lady over dinner. She said, “It‘s just that my mother did that and so I followed along”. That’s how the younger generation adopted the way of life in Malaysia. This has been the norm and not much has changed. Many are still continuing what their forefathers have been doing for over half a century ago.

However, over the last 5 decades the economy in Malaysia improved and so have the people’s living standards. Agricultural advances and industrialization took place and people were elevated from poverty. The younger generation were getting proper education and soon their generation became more astute with regards to their sense of belonging.

Trends were changing and many young Chinese boys and girls took up Christian/Western names. It was cool to have a Christian name because many educated ones have already taken-up Christianity. By donning a Christian name one was perceived to have also been converted to be a Christian. Conversion was regarded as learned and cultured.

Those who did not speak English and do not have a Christian name were seen as “jinjang” (notorious) and not very smart. All this happened in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Fast forward to today, this trend has lost its glamour. Not everyone clamours to have a Christian name, although many still converted to Christianity. To some extent this has been done with the price of bad mouthing Buddhism. This happens because there is a lack of understanding of the true teachings of Buddhism.

Confusing Buddhism with Taoism

There are a lot of things that caused such trends to be associated to Christianity. Let’s examine some of the causes.

Many locals confuse Chinese temples such as this one as Buddhist temples  >>

When we were young and first entered school, our parents needed to register us. The school system segregated us in terms or race and religion. We must get an identity and belonged to a certain group even though we were born in the same country. That’s how it worked before, and even now. Our parents had to register a religious label for the children even though many do not know much about their own religion.

It is easy to select a race grouping for your child because there is a box for each race Melayu (Malay), Cina (Chinese), India (Indian) and “dan lain-lain” (others). But when it comes to religion, most Chinese parents would tick “Buddhism”, because the choices were limited. You can only choose to be a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu or a Buddhist. There weren't any other boxes to tick. So if you were a Taoist, you had to tick “Buddhist”.

Most Chinese Malaysian parents would tick “Buddhism” as a religion for their kids, not knowing that there was a world of difference between Buddhism and Taoism. For those who are not familiar, most Malaysian Chinese living here practices Taoism and lives by values as taught by Confucius.

Buddhism which originated from India is a lot different if we compare it to what is practiced by local Chinese families. Confusion came about when people misunderstood Buddhism for Taoism and Chinese culture. People on the streets then have no idea what Buddhism is.

Fears and confusion

During the Chinese New Year celebrations, people celebrate with joy to usher a brand new year. This is an auspicious occasion and such practice is acceptable to people from around the world. However, one part of the celebration where the Chinese light-up the fire crackers and make LOUD noise which disturbs the neighbourhood is something to look at.

Sometimes it is done in a “Chinese tokong” (temple). My Malay friend who lived next door asked me why Buddhists are noisy people. The Malay family need to endure the loud firecrackers once a year when it is a Chinese New Year.  I replied him, “Tuan (Sir) this has nothing to do with Buddhism.” It only took me only 5 minutes to explain and he understood.

There was a case I heard recently from a lady who was giving her testimony after converting to Christianity a few months ago. She is in her early 50s and said that she had a hard time living by the rules of Buddhism. In her story she related a tale about how she had suffered for 21 years. Her first child was a baby boy and he was born on a New Moon day.  The priest of a Chinese temple told her that due to the fact that her son was born on a New Moon day. She has to come to the temple and make offering of incense and pray to the God every time it is a New Moon day. So, she did that for years. Obviously she jumped on the chance to end this troublesome ritual when she was informed that she doesn't have to do that if she converts herself into a Christian.

Who could blame her for taking up Christianity at that instant? It is a pity that she has to religiously bring her son to the temple once a month for 21 years.
But this is not a Buddhist practice. Buddha did not instruct anyone to make offering at a temple if a baby is born on a New Moon or Full Moon day. You can never find this in any sutta. It is so unfortunate that this lady was misled and caused her so much trouble for so many years. What a pity.

These are just two examples of how Buddhism has been wrongly accused for unwise rituals. There are hundreds and perhaps thousands of stories to showcase how Buddhism has been wrongfully conjured.  But it brings better value to this article if I could share what Buddhism is.

Core teachings of the Buddha

For many years the Buddha walked the vast land in the North east of India, he taught people to be good. The Buddha’s teaching are revolved mostly around the Four Noble Truth. In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha declared that there is an existence of suffering. He also described the three evil roots that caused these suffering in great details in the Second Noble Truth. Off course he showed us the way to overcome greed, hatred and illusion.

In the Third Noble truth the Buddha stated that this suffering can be stopped. The Fourth Noble Truth described a formula designed by the Buddha to end suffering. This formula is called the Noble Eightfold Path. And if a person follows this path, he has a good chance of getting out of the cycle of death and rebirth.

In the Noble Eightfold Path, a practitioner starts-off by having the right view. By having the right understanding, it will be able to provide the right thoughts, right speech and right actions for himself. This helps the practitioner to train his mind to act mindfully. Other areas he should put into practice is for him to have a right livelihood, put in the right effort, right concentration and right meditation.

The ultimate goal of a Buddhist practitioner is for him to eradicate defilements in his mind. Stop the flow of craving in his mind, acquire knowledge of the nature and be free of any desire of wanting to be reborn again. Upon achieving this, he will cease to be re-born and thus attains Nibanna.

Buddhism also emphasises on the need to cultivate wholesome values in a person. The foundation is morality. Strong morality will give rise to wisdom. This will then give good concentration of the mind.

The Mind

Due to the fact that we have to find success by ourselves, then we have to go to where all things begin. And all things begin in our mind. Hence, a big portion of the Buddhist teaching is placed on the development of the mind.

In the Malay language, the word for human being is manusia. The word manusia is borrowed from the word manusa in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. The word Manusa is made up of two root words mano and usa. Mano means the mind. And usa means potential. When the words are put together, manusa means a human being that has a mind that could cultivate to its full potentials.

That’s what we are. A human being with a mind that has an unlimited potentials.

Developing the Mind

It’s like when you buy a lap top computer. It is made up of hardware and software. You have the Acer computer as the hardware and Microsoft Windows 8 as the operating software.

Likewise, in a human being we have the body as the hardware and the mind as the software. But we (human being) is far more superior than a lap top. We are loaded with four types of software instead of only one OS in a computer.

The four types of human software are, one “sense organs”. This is the driver that processes the information received from external and direct them into our mind. Two, we have the “perception” software. This driver is similar to the hard-drive in a computer. It stores the memories as well as processing the information when it’s called to recognize a voice, a sight, a smell, a taste and a touch. The microprocessor chip in the human mind is a thousand times faster than a super computer.

Three, we also have the “emotion” software. This driver allows us to express our feelings accordingly.  And lastly the fourth software that we have is called the “volition” software. This is a very powerful driver. It is the main software in a human being where all our intentions, volition, decision (whether it’s good or bad) are made here.

Buddhism teaches you to develop the thoughts that are generated from your mind. It teaches you how to manage your mind, how to process your thoughts and respond correctly so that any volitions and intentions that you have in your mind are manifested through wholesome speech and wholesome action.
This is the practice of a Buddhist, creating wholesome deeds.

Do not be confused

I hope people will do some research before jumping into a conclusion and drag certain foolish practices into Buddhism. The effect of misconception about the true teaching of Buddhism will adversely affect those who genuinely wish to embrace this way of life.

Buddhism is a teaching that has a lot of substance and not just form.

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Bugs Tan is a third generation Chinese living in Malaysia. A devout Buddhists, he gives Dharma talks around the Klang Valley. He is easily one of the most prolific inventors in Malaysia. He is an outstanding creator with 15 national innovation awards. In 2007 he won the most respected tribute for an inventor in the country. That is the National Innovation Award which was presented to him by the Prime Minister.

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Sri Lanka Buddhist monks' organization objects moves to restrict monks only to teaching

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Colombo, Sri Lanka -- The National Buddhist Monks' Federation (Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya) of Sri Lanka has launched a campaign against moves to restrict Buddhist monks to teaching in government schools and temple schools for clergy.

The Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya handed over a letter today to the Most Reverend Davuldena Gnanisara Thero, the Chief Prelate of Buddhist Amarapura Chapter begging to take actions to avert such moves.

Chief Prelates of the three main Buddhist Chapters of Sri Lanka on July 17 handed in a letter to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa requesting to suspend granting appointments of Development Assistants to the Buddhist monks.

The Buddhist clergy leaders demanded the monks given appointments only for teaching in schools and temple schools.

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